Making Health Care More Affordable
| By Unknown user - May 20, 2006 10:56:45 PM ET |
| Also listed in: Featured Bloggers |
Since Rick Santorum became the third ranking Republican in the Senate, and since George Bush became President, rising insurance premiums and rising costs for businesses have driven 714,000 Pennsylvanians out of the health insurance system. Those families are one accident, one illness away from financial ruin. The Senate, however, has done nothing to help fix this crisis.
Over the past five years, health insurance premiums for workers have grown by over 70 percent while the average family income has actually declined when adjusted for inflation.
With costs rising out of control and health care coverage declining, the health care system in our country is broken, and we need to make fundamental changes. We should work toward every American having access to health care. We need action now. We need help for the uninsured now.
I propose an approach that will dramatically reduce the number of uninsured. I want to reform the health care system, not replace it with a big-government takeover. And I want affordable health care for all Americans - not a free government handout.
My health care coverage plan rests on four bedrock principles:
First, affordable coverage for all Americans;
Second, maintaining your choice of doctors and plans;
Third, controlling costs;
And fourth, expanding preventive care.
Don't believe the people who tell you reforming our health care system costs too much money. As a former state auditor and current state treasurer, I'm a numbers guy. Reforming our health care system is not what's too expensive; not reforming our health care system is what's bankrupting us.
I would like briefly outline two specific initiatives that can help alleviate this crisis.
First, we should pass legislation that provides states with fiscal relief on their Medicaid burden in exchange for increasing coverage to more children.
This approach is contained in legislation introduced this current congressional session. Unfortunately, the current leadership in Washington haven't even considered it.
Under this bill, the federal government pays for Medicaid outreach and coverage costs for children under age 21 with incomes at or below poverty level. States in exchange agree to pay their share of a SCHIP or Medicaid coverage expansion to children under age 21 with incomes at or below 300 percent of poverty.
Our nation must confront the spectacle of far too many uninsured children. The latest Census data indicated that the United States has at least 8 million uninsured children.
Expanding coverage for children is not only the moral thing -- but also the wise thing -- to do. Studies indicate that greater coverage of children can lead to significantly reduced rates of avoidable hospitalization. Moreover, children who are enrolled in SCHIP and other public programs register definite improvements in school performance.
But expanding coverage for children is not a panacea for dealing with this health care crisis. Something must also be done to provide assistance to small businesses.
Most small businesses want to provide health coverage for their employees. But these days virtually all small businesses are finding it difficult if not impossible to do so. As Business Week recently put it, the small business sector has been experiencing too many successive years of "sticker shock" on their health insurance premiums.
Out-of-control costs are causing even more large employers to shift more of the cost burden to their employees. As a result, the average American worker now pays $1,000 more per year for health insurance than three years ago.
A good first step to addressing this problem involves the development of a large and open purchasing pool allowing small businesses to join together and expand their access to more affordable private coverage. I support legislation introduced in the Senate to create a Small Employers Health Benefits Program (SEHBP).
Employers with up to 100 employees could voluntarily participate in the SEHBP pool. To help businesses afford the cost of health insurance, a refundable tax credit for low-wage employees would be available to employers willing to pay at least 60 percent of the premiums for those workers with salaries under $25,000.
The rising cost of health coverage is turning into an economic crisis for the small business sector and our whole economy. While there are no quick-fixes to this complex problem, the current lack of resolve within the Republican-controlled Congress is shameful. We deserve better.
Over the past five years, health insurance premiums for workers have grown by over 70 percent while the average family income has actually declined when adjusted for inflation.
With costs rising out of control and health care coverage declining, the health care system in our country is broken, and we need to make fundamental changes. We should work toward every American having access to health care. We need action now. We need help for the uninsured now.
I propose an approach that will dramatically reduce the number of uninsured. I want to reform the health care system, not replace it with a big-government takeover. And I want affordable health care for all Americans - not a free government handout.
My health care coverage plan rests on four bedrock principles:
First, affordable coverage for all Americans;
Second, maintaining your choice of doctors and plans;
Third, controlling costs;
And fourth, expanding preventive care.
Don't believe the people who tell you reforming our health care system costs too much money. As a former state auditor and current state treasurer, I'm a numbers guy. Reforming our health care system is not what's too expensive; not reforming our health care system is what's bankrupting us.
I would like briefly outline two specific initiatives that can help alleviate this crisis.
First, we should pass legislation that provides states with fiscal relief on their Medicaid burden in exchange for increasing coverage to more children.
This approach is contained in legislation introduced this current congressional session. Unfortunately, the current leadership in Washington haven't even considered it.
Under this bill, the federal government pays for Medicaid outreach and coverage costs for children under age 21 with incomes at or below poverty level. States in exchange agree to pay their share of a SCHIP or Medicaid coverage expansion to children under age 21 with incomes at or below 300 percent of poverty.
Our nation must confront the spectacle of far too many uninsured children. The latest Census data indicated that the United States has at least 8 million uninsured children.
Expanding coverage for children is not only the moral thing -- but also the wise thing -- to do. Studies indicate that greater coverage of children can lead to significantly reduced rates of avoidable hospitalization. Moreover, children who are enrolled in SCHIP and other public programs register definite improvements in school performance.
But expanding coverage for children is not a panacea for dealing with this health care crisis. Something must also be done to provide assistance to small businesses.
Most small businesses want to provide health coverage for their employees. But these days virtually all small businesses are finding it difficult if not impossible to do so. As Business Week recently put it, the small business sector has been experiencing too many successive years of "sticker shock" on their health insurance premiums.
Out-of-control costs are causing even more large employers to shift more of the cost burden to their employees. As a result, the average American worker now pays $1,000 more per year for health insurance than three years ago.
A good first step to addressing this problem involves the development of a large and open purchasing pool allowing small businesses to join together and expand their access to more affordable private coverage. I support legislation introduced in the Senate to create a Small Employers Health Benefits Program (SEHBP).
Employers with up to 100 employees could voluntarily participate in the SEHBP pool. To help businesses afford the cost of health insurance, a refundable tax credit for low-wage employees would be available to employers willing to pay at least 60 percent of the premiums for those workers with salaries under $25,000.
The rising cost of health coverage is turning into an economic crisis for the small business sector and our whole economy. While there are no quick-fixes to this complex problem, the current lack of resolve within the Republican-controlled Congress is shameful. We deserve better.
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